Kuwait's ruling emir Sheikh Nawaf dies at 86, Sheikh Meshal named successor

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf al Ahmad al Sabah has died at age 86, just over three years after assuming power in the Gulf state.

The cause of his death on Saturday was not immediately disclosed.

The Emir was admitted to hospital late last month due to what the state news agency described at the time as an emergency health problem but said that he was in a stable condition.

Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al Ahmad al Sabah, 83, who has been Kuwait's de facto ruler since 2021, when the frail emir handed over most his duties, was named as Sheikh Nawaf's successor.

Who is Sheikh Nawaf al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah?

Sheikh Nawaf, who ruled the country for more than three years, was born in Kuwait on June 25, 1937.

He served as governor of the Hawally city, south of the capital Kuwait, in 1962.

He assumed the office of minister of internal affairs between 1978-1988 and run it for a second term between 2003-2006.

In 1988, he served as defence minister. Sheikh Nawaf also served as social affairs and labor minister in the first Kuwaiti government established in April 1991 after Kuwait's war of liberation against Iraq.

Sheikh Nawaf became emir in September 2020 following the death of his brother, Sheikh Sabah, who had ruled for more than a decade and shaped the state's foreign policy for over 50 years.

He was described as the spiritual father of the security forces in Kuwait.

Sheikh Nawaf, the sixth son of Emir al Ahmad al Jaber al Mubarak al Sabah, who reigned in Kuwait for 29 years from 1921 to 1950, has four sons and one daughter.

Consensus builder

Sheikh Nawaf was seen by diplomats as a consensus builder even though his reign was marked by an intense standoff between the government and elected parliament, which had hindered key structural reforms in the oil rich Gulf state.

In recent months, consensus returned between the government and the parliament.

Kuwait, holder of the world's seventh-largest oil reserves, borders Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and lies across the Gulf from Iran.

It was invaded and occupied by Iraq in 1990, sparking the first Gulf war several months later in 1991 when the United States and other nations defeated Iraq and liberated Kuwait.

Since he took over in 2020, Sheikh Nawaf maintained a foreign policy that balanced ties with those neighbours, whilst domestically eight governments were formed under his rule.

Under Kuwait's constitution, the crown prince automatically becomes emir but assumes power only after taking an oath in parliament. The new emir has up to a year to name an heir.